American Idol Elimination

On Wednesday’s episode of American Idolthe Final Four remain and things got Gagalicious as Lady Gaga descended upon the competition from her home planet Gagalore, sans pants, to mentor the remaining contestants on glitz, glam, and all things related to being a truly fantastic performer. The show’s theme which seemed to be inspirations or legends, was about as hard to figure out as Lady Gaga herself, and had the Idol finalists choosing any song that inspires them and another from legendary songwriting duo Leiber & Stoller.

For the most part the judges felt each artist made his or her mark on the songs they chose. James Durbin nailed both his performances – especially Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin” and Randy Jackson felt he was “having a moment” each time he sang.Haley Reinhardt covered Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song,” in round one, but had some difficulties since the song just wasn’t really compatible with her vocal range – Randy said it sounded like “screaming.” In the second round Haley majorly redeemed herself with a performance of Ben E. King‘s “I Who Have Nothing”, which got a standing ovation from the judges – another one! Haley’s big rock n roll voice is certainly perfect for the classics.

Country cutie Scotty McCreery – who seemingly can do no wrong on Idol – had two high notes with his performances: an emotionally charged rendition Alan Jackson’s of “Where Were You” that included him playing guitar and a hilarious Gaga-ized version of The Coasters’ “Young Blood.” Of course, the saucy humor he brought performing to his girlfriend, “the microphone” excited judge Steven Tyler who exclaimed: “You made Gaga’s yaya go lala.” Um… I’m not sure what a yaya is but something tells me it might not be family friendly! Keep it in check, Steven. Also, going Gaga was blue-plate special Lauren Alaina, whose performance featured a sparkle-encrusted ensemble that matched her spunky personality, and an amazing rendition of Elvis Presley’s “Trouble” which Jennifer Lopez dubbed “really, really good!”

Thursday night’s results show started with Jlo experiencing her weekly fashion fiasco with some scary drop-crotch MC Hammer looking pants as she walked out on stage and I think Steven was wearing a jacket with J.Lo’s face on it. Not sure – but something crazy was happening there!

With a whopping 72 million plus votes cast to determine who would be getting the deluxe trips home, Ryan Seacrest announced Lauren was the first person to make it into the Top Three. And then Idol teased us with not one but two celebrity performances and a sneak peak of Steven’s new very un-Aerosmith video. Seriously – I couldn’t stand the suspense! Ryan, finally, got around to announcing the rest of the results and Haley moved into the second safe spot. The final spot went to none other than Scotty, meaning the teenage girl army was out in full-force voting furiously by any means necessary.

Sweet, sensitive James was sent home leaving Jennifer in tears. James departed by serenading us with an emotional version of Paul McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed” and reminding us to “give metal a chance!” James – America will totally give metal a chance and I agree with J.Lo, you are “magical!”

Next week the final three get to arrive via private jet for first-class hometown heroes visits. Do you think James should have been sent home? Who do you think will make the final two?

On Wednesday night’s episode of American Idol, the theme was “Now and Then,” giving each Idol hopeful the opportunity to perform a song that was popular back in the 60’s and 70’s and one that has been a recent chart topper.

Idol fave, Scotty McCreery managed fantastic performances in both categories, choosing Montgomery Gentry’s “Gone” and Elvis Presley’s “Always on My Mind” which caused an excited Steven Tyler to exclaim that Scotty – the sweetest of country boys – had “danced with the devil!” Good job Scotty – and of course, as long as teenage girls in America have access to phones, Scotty isn’t going anywhere! Despite Scotty’s successes, it was underdog Haley Reinhart who stole the show with a performance of The Animals’ “Houses of the Rising Sun” that resulted in a standing ovation from the judges and Randy Jackson declaring it the best performance of the night.

Thursday night’s results show began with J. Lo debuting an ill-advised gold lame pouf skirt she wore to her prom in 1985 as she walked out on stage and Steven debuting his new autobiography: Walk This Way to Sweet Misery: How Bad Plastic Surgery Ruined My Life. Just kidding! It’s actually called Does the Noise in my Head Bother You?: A Rock ‘n’ Roll Memoir.

With 60 million votes cast determining who would move forward to the final four, Idol decided to drag out the suspense by not revealing which side of the stage featured the safe contestants; Ryan Seacrest asked Haley and James Durbin to stand on one side and Lauren Alaina and Jacob Lusk to stand on the other, with Scotty receiving the last critique from mentor Jimmy Lovine. Since, of course, Scotty was moving forward – even if his performance consisted of yodeling – Ryan unfairly asked him to choose the side of the stage he felt featured the safe contestants. Scotty chose wisely, opting to stand with Haley and James, who as it turned out turned were the other members of the top three, leaving Lauren and Jacob as the bottom two.

In the middle of all this drama of who’s safe, who’s not, we were treated to a performance of Jennifer Lopez’s new song: “On The Floor” featuring Pittbull. I couldn’t even pay attention to the song because I was so distracted by J. Lo’s second unfortunate outfit of the night which featured silver sequined harem pants (oh so terrible) and a fringed – yes FRINGED! – sequined, crop-top with Dynasty pouffed sleeves. Oh the nightmare… Isn’t J. Lo supposed to be a fashion icon?

After a rocky performance of Jordin Sparks’ and Chris Brown’s “No Air”, Jacob was eliminated. Jacob has an amazing voice and I am excited to see where his talent will take him. The man who Randy thought had one of the best performances ever on Idol and who Steven Tyler decided had been brought to Idol by “divine intervention” went home with a beautiful and fun performance of “A House Is Not A Home.” Good Luck Jacob!

The 26-year-old St. Petersburg, Fla. native also known as Big Mike was touted one of the early favorites to win the show. However his numerous appearances in the bottom two made his elimination not so surprising. According to Ryan Seacrest, almost 37 million votes were cast this week, the most this season.

“It’s been unbelievable, man,” he said. “I just sit here right now and I think, ‘I wasn’t even supposed to be here.’ Thank God for the judges saving me, I got to spend more time here, and be with the people, perform for my wife, you know? It’s all good, man.”

Michael had performed Michael Jackson’s“Will You Be There” on Tuesday’s movie-themed performance night.

And this brings up to the final three. Casey James, Lee DeWyze, and Crystal Bowersox now have a one in three chance of winning a $1 million recording contract. The three will also be filmed visiting their home towns and their fans next week.

TELL US: WHAT IS BIG MIKE’S TIME TO GO HOME? WHO DO YOU THINK WILL WIN IT ALL?

Tim Urban is the latest American Idol hopeful to leave the show despite showing two weeks of continued improvement.

The 20 year-old Texan found himself in the bottom three alongside Aaron Kelly and Casey James. His cover of the Goo Goo Dolls failed to impress viewers and he was sent packing. Ryan Seacrest affectionately called him the Comeback Kid and Teflon Tim, as Tim has had to endure a ton of criticism this season, and has even been compared to season six’s Sanjaya.

In other Idol news, Crystal Bowersox made headlines last week when it was reported she tried to quit the show, and was talked out of it by Ryan Seacrest. Crystal’s friend and former Idol hopeful, Katelyn Epperly, then revealed in a radio interview that Crystal sent her the following text message: ‘Oh, yes, I’m fine, Betrayed by Seacrest,” when asked how she was doing by Katelyn.

Crystal however seems to be changing her tune, telling PEOPLE magazine that all is well between she and Seacrest. There is “no beef with me and Ryan…We were never angry with each other. We had a conversation. He gave me good advice and I highly respect him,” said Crystal.

But then again do we really expect her to say ‘Ryan’s a scumbag, I confided some things in him, and he went behind my back and leaked it to the media.’ She would never say that of course, and is actually smart to make the PC comment about all being well.

Next week, the six remaining contestants will have former guest judge Shania Twain as their mentor. They will all be singing her songs.

And then there were seven. Two of American Idol‘s nine remaining finalists saw their dreams come to an end last night during the dramatic double elimination show.

The double elimination came as a result of the judges saving Michael Lynche, who received the fewest votes last week. Andrew Garcia, the 24-year-old musician from Moreno, Calif, was the first to go. Andrew’s elimination was not much of a surprise as he failed to impress this judges this week with his Elvis rendition of “Hound Dog.”

“I’m still happy. Thank you guys. I mean, I appreciate everything and I’m glad I’m here, I’m glad I’ve been through what I’ve been through,” said Andrew.

Next to go was 17-year-old high school student Katie Stevens. “It was the best,” said Katie said of her American Idol experience. “[I’ll talk] about all the amazing people I met, the amazing experience that this was,” she added when asked what she’ll tell her friends when she returns home.